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Boucher finishes year with 62 goals

by
Eric Marin
/ New Jersey Devils

Reid Boucher closed out his record-breaking regular season last Saturday with 62 goals and 33 assists for 95 points with Sarnia (OHL). He ended up eclipsing Steven Stamkos' team mark by four goals, while ending up fifth overall in points.

Boucher finished the year with 12 more goals than any other OHLer, led the league in power-play goals (21), and tied for second in game winners (9). The Devils signed him to an entry-level contract on March 13.

Sarnia opens a best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series at Plymouth on Friday.

D Damon Severson took home top defenseman honors at the Kelowna Rockets' (WHL) awards banquet on Sunday. He finished 2012-13 with five points (2g-3a) in his last four games, and was the Rockets' top scoring blueliner with 52 points (10g-42a).

Severson's point total was tied for fourth among WHL defenseman, while his plus-43 was tied for ninth best in the league.

The Rockets finished with the second best record in the WHL and set a franchise mark in Saturday's season finale with their 52nd win. They open the playoffs at home against Seattle on Friday.

LW Ben Thomson ended his regular season on a high note, scoring twice and adding an assist for Kitchener (OHL) in Saturday's season finale against Sault Ste. Marie. Thomson collected a career-best 15 goals and 17 assists in 67 games with the Rangers, and ranked eighth in the league with 119 penalty minutes.

Kitchener will be home to start a first-round matchup with Guelph on Friday.

C Graham Black scored a career-high 24 goals for Swift Current (WHL) this season, while matching a career best with 50 points. Fellow Devils prospect D Reece Scarlett also matched a career high with 49 points (9g-40a), tying him for ninth among WHL defensemen.

The Broncos open the playoffs in Calgary on Thursday.

C Artur Gavrus capped his year with eight goals and three assists in eight games for Owen Sound (OHL) this month, finishing his abbreviated regular season with 14 points (8g-6a) in 21 games.

Gavrus, who had two goals against Sarnia on Friday, made his season debut on Jan. 12 after beginning the campaign in his native Belarus. He recorded a three-point game (2g-1a) on March 2, then collected his second career hat trick on March 8.

Next up for the Attack is a first-round playoff matchup with Sault Ste. Marie.

LW Blake Pietila had one assist over the weekend for Michigan Tech (CCHA), which dropped its opening round playoff series to North Dakota in three games. RW Derek Rodwell scored in Friday's tilt for UND, which moves on to the WCHA Final Five.

That group includes D Joe Faust and Wisconsin (WCHA), who eliminated Minnesota Duluth in two games.

LW Blake Coleman and the Miami RedHawks (CCHA) advanced past Michigan State in three games with back-to-back 4-1 victories on Saturday and Sunday. Miami moves into the CCHA semifinal round for the fourth straight year and will take on D Jon Merrill and the Michigan Wolverines.

Merrill had an assist Saturday, when Michigan completed a two-game sweep of Western Michigan.

G Maxime Clermont made 36 saves to lead Elmira (ECHL) to a 6-3 win over Trenton on Sunday. He's 3-2 since being reassigned to the Jackals from Albany (AHL) on March 5, improving his overall numbers to 18-12-3-2 with a 3.21 goals-against average and .900 save percentage.

G Scott Wedgewood posted 16 saves for Albany (AHL) in their loss to Syracuse on Saturday. He's 2-1 with a 3.27 goals-against average and .889 save percentage in three AHL starts this season.